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A review by leili_vee
Magnetic North: Sea Voyage to Svalbard by Jenna Butler
4.0
You all. I am now officially on the ARC Kool-Aid bus!! I got an audiobook copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review. So, here it is:
3.5: As others have said on here, this book is marketed as a science book. It is not. It is only very loosely related to science in that the author uses geological terminology often and at times lists some of the animals and plants she sees on her trip. It is kind of poetry, kind of a factual story about a short trip to Svalbard that she took, and kind of historical fiction.
Things I liked: at one point, the author poignantly pontificates “where were the women in all this? Perhaps it’s simpler to turn north when you are not the anchor, the mooring point.” I think that is such a poetic way of looking at our importance and at our exclusion. I liked the short references of island history, the quick bites of Russian and Norwegian language, the brief allusions to lives on other lands. I liked the way the author described her difficulty in returning home. Even when our journey is hard, it is sometimes hard to return home and reintegrate into the person we once were. The voice actor they chose for this reading was very good, I felt.
Things I didn’t like: I wish that the author would have talked more about Freyja. Where is she from originally, where does she go in winter, what does she do for a living? I’d also like to know more about the other womxn that work/live on the island. This is a very short writing. As a lover of all things Arctic, it would have been nice if this piece was longer. I also felt it didn’t really have a point, other than to describe a short trip she took on a boat to a cold place.
3.5: As others have said on here, this book is marketed as a science book. It is not. It is only very loosely related to science in that the author uses geological terminology often and at times lists some of the animals and plants she sees on her trip. It is kind of poetry, kind of a factual story about a short trip to Svalbard that she took, and kind of historical fiction.
Things I liked: at one point, the author poignantly pontificates “where were the women in all this? Perhaps it’s simpler to turn north when you are not the anchor, the mooring point.” I think that is such a poetic way of looking at our importance and at our exclusion. I liked the short references of island history, the quick bites of Russian and Norwegian language, the brief allusions to lives on other lands. I liked the way the author described her difficulty in returning home. Even when our journey is hard, it is sometimes hard to return home and reintegrate into the person we once were. The voice actor they chose for this reading was very good, I felt.
Things I didn’t like: I wish that the author would have talked more about Freyja. Where is she from originally, where does she go in winter, what does she do for a living? I’d also like to know more about the other womxn that work/live on the island. This is a very short writing. As a lover of all things Arctic, it would have been nice if this piece was longer. I also felt it didn’t really have a point, other than to describe a short trip she took on a boat to a cold place.